Parables and Portraits: Poetry by Stephen Mitchell, Renowned Translator of Rilke and the Tao Te Ching—Revised Edition

by Stephen Mitchell

A revised edition of the first book of poems by Stephen Mitchell, the renowned translator of Rilke's poetry, The Book of Job, and the Tao Te Ching. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Genres: Poetry

87 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Stephen Mitchell was educated at Amherst College, the Sorbonne, and Yale University, and de-educated through intensive Zen practice. He is widely known for his ability to make old classics thrillingly new, to step in where many have tried before and to create versions that are definitive for our time. His many books include The Gospel According to Jesus, The Second Book of the Tao, two books of fiction, and a book of poetry.

Mitchell’s Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke has been called “the most beautiful group of poetic translations [the twentieth] century has produced.” William Arrowsmith said that his Sonnets to Orpheus “instantly makes every other rendering obsolete.” His Book of Job has been called “magnificent.” His bestselling Tao Te Ching, Bhagavad Gita, and Gilgamesh—which are not translations from the original text, but rather poetic interpretations that use existing translations into Western languages as their starting point—have also been highly praised by critics, scholars, and common readers. Gilgamesh was Editor’s Choice of The New York Times Book Review, was selected as the Book Sense 2004 Highlight for Poetry, was a finalist for the first annual Quill Award in poetry. His translation of the Iliad was chosen as one of the New Yorker’s favorite books of 2011. He is a two-time winner of the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from the Academy of American Poets.

His books for young readers include The Wishing Bone, winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award as the best book of poetry for children published in the United States in 2003, and Jesus: What He Really Said and Did, which was chosen by the American Library Association’s Booklist as one of the top ten religious books for children in 2002.

He is also coauthor of two of his wife Byron Katie’s bestselling books: Loving What Is and A Thousand Names for Joy. www.thework.com

You can read extensive excerpts from all his books on his website, www.stephenmitchellbooks.com.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I dip in and out of this small volume when my soul needs some healing. This, however, was one of the times that I sat and read it all through again from cover to cover. Stephen Mitchell is a prolific translator (I'm quite partial to his translations of Rilke). Yet, he has published very little of his own original writing (that I'm aware of), and this lovely book is out of print. It's a small collection of reflections and pseudo-poems. Or, as the title more accurately designates them, parables and portraits.

In these pages we find Cinderella, as dirty and depressed as ever, having tea with her fairy godmother who has, accidentally on purpose, misplaced her magic wand. "It is like the man in the mirror, says the fairy godmother. No one can pull him out but himself." We also find a portrait of Lazarus, nearly (blissfully) at the end of his tunnel when he hears the voice of his friend calling him back. Lazarus, almost relieved of so many earthly burdens, sees things much more clearly now. Such as, "the seductive drama of master and disciple, how childish that had been too, as if a candle flame needed to warm itself before a fire." Out of love for his friend, Lazarus will reluctantly turn back.

Courtesy is my most treasured of these parables. I keep it with me as a reminder of who I want to be, how I want to live. To try to move with grace through my disasters. To preserve a politeness of the heart. To be willing to take a step backward so the universe of the other can exist...

Courtesy
No, it is not a matter of bows and speeches. We’ve had enough of that.

It is (how best to phrase it?) a natural ease, a politeness of the heart, the kind of step backward the God of the cabalists once took, so that the universe of the other can exist. And I, who am a slow student of the art, find it where I can, in Montaigne and Spinoza, the smile of a Benedictine nun through a latticed parlor, an old Hasid in Jerusalem giving a coin to a beggar and saying “Thank you” for the opportunity of fulfilling a commandment. I have seen it among the poor, who, like the serpent in Eden, learn humility by staying on the ground. And among the great, those noblemen and ladies in Shakespeare moving with such grace through their disasters: the duke in the forest of Arden, Hermione answering the maddened king, Brutus before the last battle, taking the lute from under the arm of his sleeping boy-servant, gently.

[John Madera]

A so-so collection of stories, where clichés, like the following, abound: “A sad state of affairs”; “accidentally on purpose”; “circle of friends”; “dead of night”; “light at the end of the tunnel”; “music to his ears”; “like warp and woof”; “It was now or never”; “a tight squeeze”; “the last laugh”; “I thought that my heart would burst”; “a chip off the old block”; and “play fast and loose.”

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a few times long, long, ago. It remains with me still. I am haunted particularly by a piece, called 'Cello' I think. I may need to find another copy of this book. It's probably been 25 years since I read it.

[Sagar Castleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

some were good but it got kinda repetitive. at the beginning he was like "here are some great ideas! let's write 'em down" but by the end he was like "yeah i don't quite have enough for a book yet, let's try to pump out a few more."

[Michael Randle · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a strange little book- I liked it!

[Susie Webster-toleno · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be read again and again.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first introduction to the writing (as opposed to translation work, or editing) of Stephen Mitchell, sometime in the early 1990s. I think the man has much to say - what with his life experience and scholarship, blending into a seemingly marvelous ride. I don't think all of his poetry is easily accessible - but one need not be a genius to access Mitchell's message / humor at times ...Just read "Lazarus", Wow!. Take a look at "Cello" or "Orpheus" ... each a little gem. I may never grasp "Patience", but I have thoroughly enjoyed trying.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing poetry volume. I was familiar with Stephen Mitchell's translations and loved his choices for 'The Enlightened Heart', a fave poetry anthology. In these poems he gets inside the allusions, parables, myths, fables, and characters we think we might know. Twists and turns them just a little, adds a little Zen and a lot of heart, and creates small epiphanies and new understandings. I can almost imagine his 1/2 grin in the last line of each of these poems.

[Ben]

Recommended as a fantastic book by Joseph Goldstein in 'Mindfulness'